Microgeneration in the Republic of Ireland

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is planning to make Ireland a global leader in sustainable energy. SEAI needed to understand the potential contribution of renewables under various policy scenarios.

Element Energy has much experience of delivering this type of challenging study in the UK, so was well placed to undertake the work. We completed a national renewable energy resource assessment for the technologies of interest in small-scale applications, using GIS methodology where appropriate. This revealed the technical potential for each technology, i.e. the amount of energy that could be generated at different prices. We undertook further research and stakeholder consultation to understand investor behaviour and identify market barriers to uptake. These data formed inputs to a model which was tailored to allow analysis of the impact of alternative support policies for renewables.

This project gave the client a thorough evidence-based understanding of the potential for microgeneration in Ireland, and the tools to design an effective financial support scheme for small-scale renewables.